The United States currently supports antiretroviral treatment for six million of the 10.1 million people receiving antiretroviral treatment for HIV globally, while an estimated 35.3 million people worldwide are living with HIV.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)

The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). Lee is a long-time leader in the global HIV response who co-authored legislation that created the Global Fund and the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, and has played a leading role in building responses to the domestic HIV epidemic as well. Sen. Coburn, a physician, most recently co-sponsored the HOPE Act, legislation authorizing research into organ transplants for, and from HIV-infected individuals.

Sen. Tom Coburn

The letter, signed by 22 Senators and 18 Congressional Representatives, cites evidence from HPTN 052, the study that proved antiretroviral treatment for HIV also prevents transmission of the virus. “Evidence to support a strong role for treatment in PEPFAR has never been more abundant,” the letter says. It points to the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board’s 2011 vision of antiretroviral treatment for at least 90 percent of people living with HIV who need it, and to the World Health Organization’s newest guidelines recommending treatment before patients’ immune systems are severely depleted (with immune, or CD4 cell counts at or below 500 cells per millimeter of blood), for all children under five, and for all people in sexual relationships with HIV-negative partners.

The letter thanks President Obama for hosting the Global Fund Replenishment conference in Washington, saying the setting “sends a strong signal to other donor countries,” and “presents an important opportunity to renew and extend U.S. support while challenging other nations to strengthen the overall response.”

The science is clear, HIV criminalization is abusive, discriminatory and counterproductive – The destructiveness of HIV-specific laws that fueled stigma and discouraged diagnosis by criminalizing people […]